Vidarbha's Wagh questions fairness of umpires and CM Gautam

Vidarbha's left-arm seamer Shrikant Wagh has slammed the umpiring in his team's match against Karnataka, holding it responsible for his side conceding the first-innings lead. He said the standards of umpiring were poor, and they favoured the home side. Wagh also accused Karnataka wicketkeeper CM Gautam of claiming bump catches that accounted for Aditya Shanware and Shalabh Shrivastava.

"The first three wickets were not out. We got the video footage," Wagh said after the day's play. "Ganesh Satish was nowhere near the ball, and those two catches taken by CM Gautam were taken one bounce. So that's the main difference. You can say end of the day that's 40 runs short.

"I am very disappointed by CM Gautam. Champion side… you never expect them to do it. We are in shock. One bounce, he [Gautam] should say not out."

Responding to Wagh's accusations, Gautam told ESPNcricinfo it all stemmed from "frustration". "I felt it was out. That's the reason I went up," Gautam said. "The umpires, they consulted each other and took a decision because they are in the right position to see what's happening.

"I think this is coming out of frustration. They lost the lead. It has not been an easy game for them. I thought we bowled really well today. They couldn't take that, I think."

Wagh said Karnataka applied "a lot of pressure" on on-field umpires Virender Sharma and Pashchim Pathak, both of whom, he said, gave decisions in favour of the home team.

"You can see from outside even, in the second innings, that Robin Uthappa was plumb, but they [umpires] were not sure," Wagh said. "Umpiring standard was poor, very poor and that has cost us. Umpires are confused and doubtful. Leg before, hardly you can see them giving [except] I think one or two in the match. I can say umpires favoured their side more rather than being mutual to both sides."

Gautam said Karnataka had taken umpiring decisions in their stride even when they went against them. He cited his own example from Friday, when he was adjudged caught behind. "Even yesterday, mine was not out," Gautam said. "When I was batting, it hit the pad and they appealed for caught behind, they gave it out. I didn't tell anything. The keeper was laughing, even Wasim Jaffer was laughing after that dismissal.

"Plumb decisions went against us yesterday, Jaffer's and Ganesh Satish. [But at] the end of the day, we just spoke about the game. We never spoke about the bad decisions or decisions going against us."

Wagh said Vidarbha would incorporate their complaints against the umpiring in the team's report at the end of the match, but there was not much else they could do. "Hamaara apne kuch toh nahi hai (there isn't a lot in our hands). End of the day match referee has power to do things. The captain knows the rules as to how much we can appeal and what we can include in the report. We will do our best."

He said poor umpiring had hurt Vidarbha in the previous season as well, when they finished as quarter-finalists. "To be honest, it's [wrong decisions] happening a lot to our side rather than the opposition, with teams like Karnataka and Delhi. We have got the evidence, that's what I am saying. We have got the footage."